I flew back to Microtech for another mining run. Microtech was still in quarantine. After my experiences last time, I wanted to avoid a long flight through the atmosphere. 

I took the risk of being spotted and jumped to the New Babbage Quantum Jump Point. When I came out of Quantum, I immediately turned away from New Babbage. I flew into a valley behind the spaceport. I hoped I would be undetected in the shadow of the mountain. 

A snowstorm raged in the valley. The visibility was poor. Actually there was no view at all. But the scanners worked and discovered a cluster with Hadanite. I landed. When the elevator went down, it almost blew me off the platform. The wind was strong, the cold was extreme. But I had to get the Hadanite. 

Drops formed on the helmet’s visor. The view was restricted and blurry. I could barely read the mining tool ads. Arial was a fire hell, this was ice hell. 

I came back into the ship stiff from the cold. The first thing I did was take a shower. These were the most extreme conditions I had ever worked under. But I had the Hadanite. It was more than a backpack. 

When I continued my flight it was already dark. The storm had died down. I found rocks containing ore in the woods. They were barely visible between the trees. I had to place the Mole between the treetops. The mining went smoothly. 

When I got back to Port Olisar one of the activists was waiting for me. He looked like he had seen ghosts. He had no good news. The activist network had been hacked. All the money was gone. I had a bad premonition. I opened my mobiglas and looked at my account balance. The display showed 0 aUEC.